6-K
UBS AG (AMUB)
UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_________________
FORM 6-K
REPORT OF FOREIGN PRIVATE
ISSUER
PURSUANT TO RULE 13a-16 OR 15d-16 UNDER
THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
Date: February 5, 2026
UBS Group AG
(Registrant's Name)
Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
(Address of principal executive office)
Commission File Number: 1-36764
UBS AG
(Registrant's Name)
Bahnhofstrasse 45, 8001 Zurich, Switzerland
Aeschenvorstadt 1, 4051 Basel, Switzerland
(Address of principal executive offices)
Commission File Number: 1-15060
Indicate by check mark whether the registrants file or will file annual
reports under cover of Form
20-F or Form 40-
F.
Form 20-F
☒
Form 40-F
☐
This Form 6-K consists of the transcripts of the of UBS Group AG 4Q25
Earnings call remarks and
Analyst Q&A, which appear immediately following this page.
1
Fourth quarter 2025 results
4 February 2026
Speeches by
Todd
Tuckner
, Group
Chief Financial Officer,
and
Sergio P.
Ermotti
,
Group Chief Executive
Officer
Including analyst
Q&A session
Transcript.
Numbers for
slides
refer to
the fourth
quarter 2025
results and
investor update
presentation.
Materials and a
webcast replay are available
at
www.ubs.com/investors
Todd
Tuckner
Slide 3: 4Q25 profitability driven by strong revenue growth and positive
operating leverage
Thank you Sarah, and good morning
everyone.
Disciplined execution in the fourth quarter underpinned a strong year
of financial performance as we continue to
progress towards
our post-integration profitability
targets. In
the quarter
we delivered
reported net
profit of
1.2
billion and earnings per share of 37 cents while
Group Invested Assets exceeded 7 trillion.
Underlying pre-tax
profit was
2.9 billion,
up 62%
year-over-year,
as continued
revenue
momentum in
our core
franchises and cost discipline across the Group resulted in 9 percentage
points of positive jaws.
Total
revenues
increased
10%
versus
the
prior
year,
driven
primarily
by
strong
top-line
growth
in
both
Global
Wealth
Management
and
the
Investment
Bank,
as
we
leveraged
our
competitive
strengths
and
unrivaled
geographic footprint
to capture
opportunities in
broadly
constructive market
conditions. We
delivered a
further
700 million
in gross
cost saves,
reflecting steady
progress
in decommissioning
technology,
integrating functions
and reducing third-party spend.
Total
operating expenses were
1% higher
with realized
synergies largely
offset by
higher variable
compensation
accruals on the back
of stronger revenues.
Excluding litigation, variable compensation and currency
effects, costs
declined 7%.
2
Taken
together, sustained execution combined with disciplined cost
and balance sheet management
drove further
improvement in our underlying metrics
during the quarter,
including a cost/income ratio of 75%
and a return on
CET1 capital of 11.9%.
We remain
on track
to deliver on
our key
integration milestones, including completing
the Swiss booking
center
client migrations by
the end
of this
quarter –
an important
enabler to achieve
the remainder
of our
cost savings
through the end of 2026.
Slide 4 – 4Q25 net profit 1.2bn reflects broad-based growth and NCL cost
reduction
Moving to slide
- With
underlying pre-tax
profit growth across
our businesses,
we closed
the year
on a strong
note
and sustained the consistent performance delivered
throughout 2025. This quarter,
we once again leveraged the
strength of
our business
model, powered
by our
international scale,
deep client
connectivity,
and differentiated
capabilities, to help clients navigate an environment
marked by complexity and unpredictability.
On a reported
basis, revenues included
net negative adjustments
of 54 million,
primarily reflecting a
net loss of
457
million
from
the November
buyback
of 8.5
billion
of legacy
Credit
Suisse
debt instruments
that
were
issued
at
distressed
spreads
prior
to
the
acquisition,
offset
by
other
merger-related
PPA
adjustments.
Buying
back
this
expensive legacy
debt early
– and
replacing it
with low-cost
funding –
is not
only NPV-accretive, but
will also
benefit
the net interest income of GWM and P&C in the coming
years and reduce the net funding drag in NCL.
Integration-related expenses
were
1.1 billion,
reflecting the
continued high
intensity of
the Swiss
client account
migration and ongoing work across the group to deliver
key integration milestones.
The effective tax rate in the quarter was 29% and
12% for the full year 2025.
Slide 5 – Our balance sheet for all seasons
is a key pillar of our strategy
Turning to our balance sheet on slide
- As of year-end, our
balance sheet for all
seasons consisted of 1.6
trillion in
total
assets,
down
15
billion
versus
the
end
of
the
third
quarter,
primarily
reflecting
the
liability
management
exercise just mentioned and net redemptions of other
long-term debt.
Credit-impaired exposures remained stable quarter-on-quarter at 90 basis points, while the annualized cost of risk
was 9
basis points,
reflecting the
quality and
nature of
our lending
book. Group
credit loss
expense was
159 million,
mainly relating to credit-impaired positions in our Swiss business.
Our tangible
book value
per share
grew sequentially
by 1%
to 26
dollars and
93 cents,
primarily from
our net
profit,
which was partly offset by share repurchases.
Overall, we continue
to operate with
a highly fortified
and resilient balance sheet
with total loss absorbing
capacity
of 187 billion, a net stable funding ratio of
116% and a liquidity coverage ratio of
183%.
Looking ahead, we expect our
LCR to remain around
this level, reflecting both
the prudent buffers we
have long
maintained and the
more stringent Swiss
liquidity requirements,
which were
fully phased in
by the end
of 2024,
and which
are more onerous
than those
in other
jurisdictions. Maintaining
this resilience
requires holding additional
HQLA, and we will continue to manage the associated
carry and balance-sheet impact with discipline.
3
Slide 6 – Strong operating profits fund capital returns,
investments and debt buyback
Turning
to capital
on slide 6.
Our CET1
capital ratio at
the end
of December
was 14.4% and
our CET1 leverage
ratio was 4.4%, both lower sequentially and
closer to our targets of around 14% and above 4%,
respectively.
The sequential decreases largely
reflect a reduction
in CET1 capital, as
strong operational performance was more
than offset
by accruals
for shareholder
returns of
4.1 billion.
Of this
amount, 3
billion relates
to intended
share
repurchases in
2026, which
we’ll cover
later in
more detail.
A further
1.1 billion
relates to
the full-year
2025 ordinary
dividend which,
at one
dollar and
ten cents
per share,
is up
22% on
last year. CET1
capital also
decreased by
around
0.5 billion due to the liability management exercise.
Turning
to
UBS
AG.
During
the
fourth
quarter,
the
parent
bank’s
standalone
fully-applied
CET1
capital
ratio
increased to 14.2%, up sequentially
from 13.3%. This increase largely
reflects 9 billion of capital
upstreamed from
subsidiaries, following strong
integration progress,
including in
further running down
NCL, which
enabled those
entities to release surplus capital on an accelerated timeline.
Of the total, Credit Suisse International in the UK
paid up around 4 billion, while around
3 billion was repatriated
from the US IHC. The remainder was paid by other foreign subsidiaries
around the Group.
Collectively, these distributions increased the parent bank’s
equity by around 2 billion,
and reduced its investments
in subsidiaries by around 6 and
a half billion, resulting in
a 26 billion reduction in risk-weighted
assets, driving up
its capital ratio.
By year-end, we expect another 3 billion
of capital to be returned
predominantly from UBS AG’s UK
subsidiaries as
we finalize
the unwinding
of positions
in those
former Credit
Suisse entities.
In addition,
the US
IHC can
be expected
to repatriate
around 2
billion of
additional capital by
2028 as
it progresses
back toward
its pre-acquisition
CET1
capital ratio.
UBS AG’s fourth quarter CET1 capital ratio also reflected an incremental accrual of 1 billion of dividends, bringing
the full year 2025 total
to 9 billion. As in 2025,
the parent bank is expected
to upstream half of that
total during
the first half
of 2026 to
fund Group
shareholder returns, and
has the
option to distribute
the second half
in the
latter part of the year depending on Swiss
capital framework developments.
Finally, with dollar/Swiss
at around
current levels,
we expect
to continue
pacing intercompany
dividends to
maintain
prudent capital buffers and manage FX-driven headwinds on leverage ratios across Group entities. As a result, we
now expect
UBS AG
to operate
with a
standalone CET1 capital
ratio of
around 14%
for the
foreseeable future,
while we still aim to maintain the Group equity double
leverage ratio near 100%.
At the end
of 2025, the
Group equity double
leverage ratio was 104%,
down 5 percentage
points compared to
the end of the second quarter.
4
Slide 7 – Global Wealth Management
Turning to our business divisions and starting with Global Wealth Management on
slide 7.
For
the
quarter,
GWM
delivered
pre-tax
profit
of
1.6
billion,
up
from
1.1
billion
in
the
prior
year
as
revenues
increased by 11%. Invested Assets reached 4.8 trillion. For the full year, GWM generated pre-tax profits excluding
litigation of 6.1 billion, up 23%, with a cost/income
ratio of 75.6%, improving by more than 3 percentage points.
All four GWM regions grew pre-tax
profits in 2025, with each generating around one and a
half billion excluding
litigation – underscoring the strength and diversification
of the world’s only “truly” global wealth manager.
In the Americas, fourth quarter
pre-tax profit increased
by 32%, with a
pre-tax margin of 13%,
up 2 percentage
points year-over-year, capping a year
in which profits
grew by 34%. EMEA
delivered pre-tax profit growth
of 27%,
supported by
strong transaction-based
revenues and
ongoing cost
discipline, driving
a 19%
increase for
the full
year. Asia Pacific sustained its strong momentum, delivering pre-tax
profit growth of 24% in the quarter
and 30%
for the
full year
– its
first following
completion of
the Credit
Suisse client
migration in
2024 –
reinforcing the
region’s
significant runway
for continued
growth. In Switzerland,
pre-tax profit declined
4% in the
quarter amid
net interest
income headwinds, but increased 2% for the full year
on strong growth in non-NII revenue.
Moving to flows
for the quarter. Net new
assets were 8.5
billion, with 23
billion of inflows
across EMEA, APAC and
Switzerland,
partially offset
by
outflows
of
14
billion
in
the
Americas,
primarily reflecting
net
recruiting-related
impacts.
For the full year
2025, we generated net new
assets of 101 billion,
representing 2.4% growth. We
delivered this
while absorbing the
expected, temporary flow
headwinds from
strategic actions taken
to support higher
pre-tax
margins and enhance our return on equity.
Net new fee-generating
assets were 9
billion, with APAC delivering 10%
annualized growth. Mandate
penetration
was up
for the
4th consecutive
quarter with
our MyWay
discretionary solution
being a
strong driver, nearly
doubling
invested assets year-over-year to over 30 billion.
Net new
deposits were
broadly flat
in the
quarter,
with an
observable mix
shift towards
non-maturing balances
supporting our deposit margin as we look
forward.
Net
new loans
were
5
billion as
demand strengthened
–
particularly in
Lombard and
securities-based lending
–
supported by
lower
rates. In
the
Americas, loan
balances grew
for
the
7th
consecutive
quarter,
demonstrating
continued progress in enhancing our banking platform.
Moving to the revenue lines. Recurring net fee income rose 9% to
3.6 billion as fee-generating assets grew to 2.1
trillion.
Transaction-based revenues were 1.2 billion, up 20%, driven by strength in structured products and cash equities.
Close collaboration
between GWM
and the
Investment Bank
remains a
key differentiator,
enabling us
to deliver
tailored structured solutions at scale and deepen the value we
bring to our wealth clients.
Net interest income was
1.7 billion, up 3% year-on-year and
4% sequentially,
reflecting higher average loan and
deposit volumes as well as a more favorable deposit
mix.
5
For the first quarter, we expect a low single-digit percentage
decline in NII as positive
loan volume and deposit
mix
effects are expected to be more than offset by day count and deposit rates. For the full year, we expect GWM net
interest
income to
increase
by
low
single digits
year-over-year,
driven by
strong
loan growth,
support from
the
November
liability
management
exercise
and
an
improved
deposit
mix
more
than
offsetting
deposit
margin
compression in lower-rate currencies.
Underlying operating expenses increased 4% versus the prior-year
quarter,
driven primarily by higher production-
linked compensation. Excluding litigation,
variable compensation and currency effects, costs declined
2%.
Slide 8 – Personal & Corporate Banking (CHF)
Turning to Personal and Corporate Banking on slide 8.
P&C delivered fourth quarter pre
-tax profit of 543
million Swiss francs, down 5%, primarily
due to lower interest
rates weighing on
net interest income,
which declined 10%.
This was partly
offset by
lower credit
loss expenses
and reduced operating costs.
Sequentially,
net interest income
decreased by 2%
as targeted pricing measures
largely mitigated the headwinds
from Switzerland’s zero-rate environment.
Notwithstanding that Swiss franc rates are
expected to remain
at current levels
throughout 2026, P&C’s full
year
NII is modelled to increase by
a mid-single-digit percentage in US dollars, supported by FX
translation, the liability
management exercise and expected loan growth.
For the first quarter, we expect NII to remain broadly stable in US dollar terms.
Non-NII
revenues
were
down
3%
with
sustained
growth
in
Personal
Banking more
than
offset
by
lower client
activity in the Corporate and Institutional segment.
Credit loss expense
was 80 million
Swiss francs in
the quarter
and 277 million
Swiss francs
for the full
year. Looking
ahead, a
mixed credit
backdrop in
Switzerland, reflecting
a
more
challenging economic
outlook, is
expected to
result in quarterly credit loss expense of around 75 million Swiss francs
on average.
Operating expenses in the quarter were 1.1 billion
Swiss francs, down 1%.
Slide 9 – Asset Management
Turning to Asset Management
on slide 9.
Pre-tax profit increased by
20% to 268
million, driven
by higher revenues
and
lower
costs.
The
quarter
also
reflected
a
loss
of
29
million
related
to
the
sale
of
the
O’Connor
business.
Excluding the P&L from disposals, pre-tax profit was up 41%.
As investments in
our growth initiatives
and platform scalability
continue to take
hold, we’re
seeing the benefits
translate into sustained profitability improvement.
Net new money in the quarter was positive 8 billion, led by inflows in ETFs, money market strategies and our U.S.
SMAs,
while
invested
assets reached
2.1
trillion.
Full-year
net
new
money
was
30
billion,
representing
a
1.7%
growth
rate,
with
flows
reflecting
product
rationalization
as
Asset
Management
completed
the
Credit
Suisse
integration.
6
In Unified Global
Alternatives, net new
client commitments were
9 billion, including
8 billion from
GWM clients,
with funded invested assets now at 330 billion.
Overall revenues
rose 4%,
driven by
an 11%
increase in
net management
fees on
higher assets
under management.
Operating expenses declined 2%, resulting in a 66%
cost/income ratio.
Slide 10 – Investment Bank
On
to
slide
10
and
the
Investment
Bank.
Pre-tax
profit
of
703
million
increased
56%,
driven
by
13%
higher
revenues. This performance
capped the IB’s
strongest top-line year
on record, delivering 11.8
billion of revenue, up
18%. We
achieved this
result
with
essentially no
incremental RWA,
reflecting disciplined
risk
management and
highly capital-efficient growth. For the full year, the IB’s return on attributed equity was 15%.
Banking revenues rose by 2% in the quarter to 687 million.
Advisory grew by 2%, driven by strong performance in
Switzerland and across our broader EMEA franchise.
Capital markets
increased 1%,
powered by
ECM, which
was up
68% and
outperformed fee
pools across
all regions.
We
held
leading
roles
on
several
transactions
during
the
quarter,
highlighting
the
benefits
of
our
targeted
investments in strategic
sectors and
products. Revenues were
lower in LCM,
reflecting softer
sponsor activity
across
our client base.
Moving to Global Markets.
Revenues increased by 17% to
2.2 billion, as we delivered
our strongest fourth-quarter
performance on record – both globally and in every region.
Equities rose
9% versus
an exceptionally
strong
prior-year quarter,
driven by
prime brokerage,
cash equities
on
record
market
share,
and
equity
derivatives.
FRC
revenues
increased
by
46%,
with
FX
and
precious
metals
in
particular standing out.
Our continued
technology investment,
combined with
a highly
regionally diversified
platform and
deep connectivity
with
Global
Wealth
Management,
continues
to
differentiate
our
Markets
business
–
supporting
strong
client
engagement and sustained momentum.
Against this strong revenue performance, operating expenses
increased by 6%.
Slide 11 – Non-core and Legacy
On slide 11, Non-core and Legacy
generated a pre-tax loss of
224 million in the quarter.
Revenues were negative
10 million, as funding costs of 86 million
were partly offset by net revenues from position marks and disposals.
Operating expenses were down
by nearly 60% year-on-year,
reflecting the significant progress
we are making
in
exiting costs from the platform.
Risk-weighted assets at
quarter-end
were 29
billion, or
5 billion
excluding operational risk
RWAs, down
2 billion
sequentially. LRD decreased by 6 billion, or 25% quarter-on-quarter, ending the year at 19 billion.
7
Slide 12 – FY25 net profit of 7.8bn, up 53% YoY with strong momentum in core businesses
Moving to a short recap on our full year Group performance on slide 12. We delivered net profit of 7.8 billion, up
53%
year-over-year,
with
an
underlying
return
on
CET1
capital
of
13.7%.
Excluding
litigation
and
applying
a
normalized tax rate, our return on CET1 capital
was 11.5%.
Revenues grew 8% in our
core businesses and 4% overall,
while costs were 2% lower, as we continue
to progress
toward completing the Credit Suisse integration.
Slide 13 – Increased profitability across our globally diversified franchise
As we
look at
our full
year performance through
a regional
lens on
slide 13,
the contributions across
the Group
underscore the strength of our globally diversified model
and unrivaled global connectivity.
Outside of Switzerland –
our anchor and
most profitable region,
which delivered over 5
billion in pre-tax
profit –
each region delivered strong profitability and grew at
a double-digit rate year-over-year. APAC and EMEA were up
over 40%
with the
Americas 14%
higher –
clear
evidence that
our
scale, reach
and
disciplined integration
are
building a more balanced earnings profile that positions us well to perform through the cycle and to capitalize on
growth opportunities where they are strongest.
With that, I hand over to Sergio for
the investor update.
8
Sergio P.
Ermotti
Slide 15 – Strong momentum positions us to achieve
our 2026 targets and 2028 ambitions
Thank you, Todd, and welcome everybody.
2025 was a year marked by exceptional dedication from our colleagues
as we advanced in our journey to position
UBS for sustainable long-term success.
We achieved excellent financial
results and made
great progress
on the first integration
of two G-SIBs
– for sure,
one of
the most complex
integrations in banking
history.
We did
this despite an
unpredictable market backdrop
and amid regulatory uncertainty in Switzerland while
never losing sight of what matters most:
serving our clients.
As a
result, we
captured growth
across
our asset
gathering platform,
supported robust
private and
institutional
client activity and increased market share in our areas of strategic focus
in the Investment Bank.
In Switzerland, clients relied on UBS for their domestic needs and our global capabilities and expertise. During the
year we
also extended
or renewed
around 80 billion
Swiss francs
of loans
to businesses
and households,
reinforcing
our commitment to act as a reliable partner for the Swiss
economy.
At the same time,
we substantially completed
the client migrations
in Personal and
Corporate Banking, and
we are
set to finish
the remaining transfers
for Swiss-booked clients
by the end
of the first
quarter.
With this, alongside
further progress in
simplifying our operations, we
are on track
to substantially finalize the
integration by the end
of the year and reach our 2026 Group exit rate targets.
Our performance throughout
the year further fortifies
our capital strength and
our ability to follow
through on our
capital return plans.
As Todd
mentioned, we are honoring
our capital return commitments
with an increase
in our dividend. This
was
complemented by our share repurchases, which we plan to replicate in 2026.
Our
momentum is
also
enabling our
strategic investments
to
support our
clients,
reinforce
our
technology and
position UBS for long-term growth. At the same time, we are seeing increasingly strong adoption of AI across the
firm, supported by our roll-out of next generation
tools and platforms to improve efficiency and productivity.
We entered 2026 from a position of strength and are committed to executing on our proven strategy to generate
sustainably higher returns and long-term value
for all stakeholders.
9
Slide 16 – Executing final stages of integration
to capture synergies
I am pleased with
the integration progress we
have made to date
and I’m confident in
our ability to substantially
complete the integration and capture the remaining synergies
by the end of the year.
But the
final wave
of Swiss-booked
client migrations
carries the
highest level
of complexity, and
is a
key dependency
to fully winding down the legacy infrastructure through the
end of the year.
Therefore, we
cannot be complacent and have
to maintain the same
level of focus
and intensity as we
approach
the last mile.
In the
planning process
for 2026,
we identified
an additional
500 million
in cost
synergies. These
allow us
to increase
our gross cost
savings ambition to 13
and a half billion.
I am particularly pleased
that we will
be able to
produce
these synergies at a very efficient cost-to-achieve multiple
of 1.1.
Slide 17 – On track to deliver on 2026 exit
rate targets
Each step we take towards completing
the integration brings us closer
to our 2026 exit rate targets
for the Group.
While we are
on track to reach
a 15% underlying return
on CET1 capital and
a cost/income ratio below
70% by
the end of the year, this slide underscores the efforts that are still required to get there.
As
we entered
the first
quarter,
the macro
-economic backdrop
continues to
support steady
global growth
and
easing
inflation.
Market
conditions
remain
largely
constructive,
with
broader
equity
dispersion
and
rotation
supporting client engagement, as well as healthy
transactional and capital markets
activity and pipeline.
Demand remains
focused on
geographic and
asset class diversification,
as well
as principal
protection. However,
continued elevated
geopolitical and
economic policy
uncertainties
mean sentiment
and positioning
can shift
quickly,
leading
to
spikes
in
volatility
influencing
institutional
and
corporate
client
activity
levels.
So
across
all
of
our
businesses, helping our clients navigate these
challenges and sustaining client momentum is still
our number one
priority.
Slide 18 – Committed to our global, diversified
model weighted towards asset gathering
While we are about to finish the integration, our
strategy for delivering long-term value remains unchanged.
We
are
fully committed
to our
global, diversified
model. Our
weighting towards
our
asset-gathering franchises
provide us with an attractive business mix that sets
us apart from our competitors.
And while our leadership in the largest- and
fastest-growing markets is fundamental to serving our clients, it
also
provides significant
diversification benefits
which underpin
our ability
to deliver
attractive and
stable profits
through
the cycle.
Fortified by a balance sheet for all seasons
and a disciplined approach to risk and cost
management, it is clear that
our strategy reinforces UBS’s role as a stabilizing force for our stakeholders, and
for the Swiss economy.
10
Slide 19 – Strong client franchises, capabilities and scale
Our global client franchises also provide us with
a competitive advantage that cannot easily
be replicated.
We are the world’s
only truly global
wealth manager
and the number
one Swiss universal
bank, with
leading global
capabilities across our Asset Management franchise and
our competitive, capital-light Investment Bank.
While our business divisions are strong on their own, it is the intense partnership between them that creates truly
differentiated value
for clients
and stakeholders.
This is
why further
reinforcing collaboration
across the
Group must
continue to be one of our key levers for
sustainable growth.
With the integration
nearly done, it is now
important for us to
apply a One Bank
approach to our entire operation.
To
do this, we are redesigning front-to-back processes and accelerating investments
in technology and AI.
Building on these strong
foundations, we are investing in
a portfolio of large-scale, transformational AI programs
designed to
increase our operational
resilience, enhance
client experience
and unlock
higher levels
of efficiency
and
effectiveness across the organization.
Slide 20 – Secular trends shaping our industry support
our long-term growth
In addition to the levers within our control,
the secular trends shaping the industry support our long term
growth
ambitions and our ability to serve our clients.
More
than
ever before,
rapidly evolving
geopolitical, societal
and demographic
dynamics
are
influencing where
people choose to
live. These trends
are also
accelerating the pace of
wealth migration and changing
how clients
invest and manage risk across public, private and alternative
markets.
In addition, longer life expectancies and intergenerational wealth transfers are extending investment horizons
and
increasing demand
for holistic
wealth planning.
Meanwhile, the
next generation
of investors
expects a
seamless
technological
experience.
And
the
emergence
of
digital
assets
and
tokenization
is
creating
opportunities
to
fundamentally change how we operate.
In this
context, clients
will increasingly
place an
even higher
premium on
trusted advice
from partners
who can
offer
true
global
connectivity,
access
to
innovative
products
and
seamless
cross
border
solutions.
UBS
is
uniquely
positioned to convert these trends into stronger profitability and
long-term value creation.
These trends are also reflected in our 2028 ambitions for all our business
divisions.
11
Slide 21 – GWM – capitalizing on integration
and growing the expanded platform
Let’s start
with Global Wealth
Management, where we
are on track
to realize the
final integration-related
synergies
to increase efficiency and capacity for investments, and
support the next level of profitability and growth.
We will leverage our
global reach, regional expertise and
strong connectivity with Personal &
Corporate Banking,
Asset Management and the Investment Bank
to deepen client relationships and maintain momentum.
In addition, a key priority is to scale and expand our high net worth franchise. To achieve that, we are investing in
next
generation
digital
capabilities
that
strengthen
our
products
and
services
while
also
improving
advisor
productivity and pre-tax margins.
By
2028,
we
expect
all
of
our
regions
to
become
more
profitable,
supporting
Global
Wealth
Management’s
ambition to achieve a reported cost/income ratio of around 68%.
As we
begin to
fully capitalize on
the benefits of
our greater
scale and
capabilities, we aim
to deliver more
than
200 billion in net new assets per annum by
2028.
In 2026, we expect GWM’s net new assets to exceed 125 billion as we capture the benefits of our leadership and
momentum across APAC, EMEA, Switzerland and Latin America.
In the
US, our
strategic actions
to improve
operating leverage are
resulting in
anticipated temporary headwinds,
but we expect
net new assets
in the Americas
to be positive
in 2026, supported
by a healthy
recruiting pipeline
and
improved retention of our most productive advisors.
Slide 22 – GWM – Unrivaled diversification
and scale with interconnected global franchises
On this
slide, you
can see
our unique
and diversified
positioning coming
through across
all of
our regions,
with
each being a meaningful driver of growth and equally
contributing to GWM’s profitability.
Together,
they form the basis for our unrivaled
global scale which adds to our local capabilities.
In APAC, our strong growth
and profitability reflects
our status as
the largest wealth
manager in the
world’s fastest
growing market. Building
on this, we
are reinforcing our
strongholds in Singapore
and Hong Kong
while increasing
our scale in key
growth markets in Southeast Asia,
Taiwan,
Japan, India and Australia. Across the
region, we aim
to expand
share
of wallet,
accelerate strategic
partnerships, build
on
our feeder
channels, and
hire
more
client
advisors.
Our leadership
in EMEA
is driven
by our
highly profitable
international platform that
offers cross-border
services
through our Swiss booking center.
This expanded offering in the region is
resonating with our clients, particularly
in
the
Middle
East,
where
our
franchise
has
nearly
doubled
in
size
compared
to
its
pre-acquisition
position.
Complemented by
our
growing
onshore
franchises, EMEA
is
poised to
capture
growth
and
further amplify
our
global diversification.
12
Switzerland
is
a
unique
source
of
stability
for
our
wealth
management
franchise,
supported
by
deep
client
relationships and our home country’s role as a destination
for international clients.
Once the
Swiss-booked client
migrations are
complete later
this quarter, our
advisors will
be in
an unrivaled
position
to focus on capturing enhanced growth.
Slide 23 – GWM Americas – Enhance the platform
to drive higher sustainable profitability
A year ago,
we outlined
our multi-year plan
to improve the
sustainable performance
of our US
wealth business and
positioning it to grow.
A 3-percentage-point
improvement in
pre-tax margin
in 2025
demonstrates that
we are
making good
progress
against that plan.
Simplifying access
to the
Investment Bank
has been
a clear
differentiator for
our clients,
contributing to
greater
client activity as
we further
extend our
specialized advisory and
capital market solutions
to our
wealthiest clients
and family offices.
Meanwhile,
investments
to
enhance
our
coverage
models
across
our
client
segments
are
streamlining
the
distribution of tailored products, enhancing the client
experience and improving financial advisor productivity.
Moving forward,
the most
significant source
of our
margin expansion
is our
core banking
offering. We have
healthy
momentum today,
supported by
seven consecutive
quarters of
loan growth.
And
the conditional
approval
of a
national charter
gives us
a clear
path to
further expand
our banking
platform and
product suite
to support
our
ability to narrow our profitability gap to peers.
Our operational momentum
and strategic progress in 2025 allow
us to bring forward our
ambitions by a year, and
we are
now targeting
a pre-tax
margin of
around 15%
in 2026.
We
will then
look to
achieve a
PBT margin
of
around 16% in 2027, before building to around 18% in 2028.
The Americas, including
our U.S. franchise,
is a cornerstone of
our capital-generative business model
and wealth
management franchise, and we will continue
to invest to reinforce our position.
Slide 24 – P&C – A core pillar of our strategy and reliable partner
to the Swiss economy
Let’s now turn to
Personal & Corporate
Banking, which underpins our
status as the
leading Swiss universal
bank
and reliable provider of credit for the Swiss economy.
P&C’s performance in 2025 reflects our commitment to stay close
to clients while executing one of the industry’s
most complex client account migrations ever,
with minimal disruption and limited asset outflows. With this major
milestone soon behind us, P&C is well-positioned
to benefit from a single operating platform, freeing up time
and
resources to serve clients.
Just as importantly,
winding down legacy infrastructure will unlock material cost synergies to improve profitability
while creating additional capacity to invest.
13
The power
of our
fully integrated
offering in
Switzerland, combined
with our
global reach,
allowed us
to retain
more corporate
and institutional
clients from
Credit Suisse
than we
had expected
as we
optimized our
financial
resources.
Now, we
will continuing to
improve our offerings
to reinforce
our standing as
the bank of
choice for clients and
drive growth. We are strengthening our digital leadership by increasing personalization as we roll out selective AI-
enabled
capabilities to
streamline
service and
bolster productivity.
Meanwhile, as
digital
assets
become a
more
relevant part
of the
financial system, we
are taking
a focused, client-led
approach. We
are building
out the core
infrastructure
and
exploring
targeted
offerings,
from
crypto
access
for
individual
clients,
to
tokenized
deposit
solutions for corporates.
In terms of our financial ambitions,
it is likely that the Swiss franc
interest rate headwinds that have persisted
since
2024 will delay the achievement of an underlying
cost/income ratio below 50% by the
end of 2026.
Despite this, we still expect the enhanced
scale of the franchise and improving operating
leverage to translate into
double-digit pre-tax profit growth this year. For these reasons, we
also aim to achieve a
reported cost/income ratio
around 48% for 2028, even if rates remain at zero.
Slide 25 – AM – Driving focused growth and operating
leverage
In
Asset Management,
we have
seen
a
significant improvement
in
operating leverage
alongside the
substantial
completion
of
our
integration
priorities.
This
allowed
us
to
meet
our
2026
exit
rate
ambition
a
year
ahead
of
schedule.
With
better strategic
positioning
and a
sharpened product
offering, Asset
Management
is well
positioned to
capture
efficient
growth
through
its
differentiated
capabilities.
That
includes
alternatives, where
330
billion
in
invested
assets in our
Unified Global Alternatives unit
makes us a
top-5 limited partner
with the critical
scale necessary to
provide our clients
with access to
innovative investment
opportunities across private
markets, hedge funds
and real
estate.
We also have
deep traction across
our ETF and
Index offering, our
Credit Investments Group,
and our Separately
Managed Accounts
capabilities developed
in partnership
with GWM.
We intend to
build on these
areas of strength
with an ambition to realize around 3% net new money growth through the
cycle.
Through
a
combination
of
growth,
continued
cost
discipline
and
the
rationalization
of
our
platform,
we
are
targeting a reported cost/income ratio of around 65%
by 2028.
Slide 26 – IB – Capitalizing on strategic investments
to drive sustainable returns
Turning to the Investment
Bank, we are
capitalizing on
investments in our
areas of strategic
importance to
enhance
our client offering and deliver sustainable returns.
In
2025,
Global
Markets
had
record
revenues
while
Global
Banking
continued
to
benefit
from
their
steadily
improving market share since the acquisition.
Our performance throughout the
year also highlights the benefits
of
our
diversified
platform
with
leading
franchises
across
APAC,
EMEA
and
Switzerland,
complemented
by
a
strengthened presence in the Americas.
14
Looking ahead,
we expect
Global Markets
to continue
to perform
well in
the current
market environment
supported
by enhanced market share
in equities, FX and
precious metals, and by
taking advantage of our reinforced
Global
Research capabilities.
In
Global
Banking,
our
strengthened
coverage
and
product
teams
are
adding
to
an
already
healthy
pipeline,
providing us with momentum as 2026 gets underway.
Assuming
supportive
markets,
we
still
aim
to
double
Global
Banking
revenues
by
the
end
of
this
year
on
an
annualized basis, compared to our 2022 baseline.
At the same time, we will continue to build on our connectivity to GWM, P&C and Asset Management
to support
growth across
the group and
generate a 15% reported
return on attributed equity
through the cycle. And
it will
continue to consume no more than 25% of the Group’s
risk weighted assets.
Slide 27 – Capital generative business model
supports our capital return policy
The consistent execution of our
capital-generative strategy and our
financial resource optimization efforts over the
last two years have brought revenues over risk weighted assets
much closer to pre-acquisition levels.
This gives us confidence
that we have
embedded the necessary
capital discipline
across our combined
business and
is more of
a proof of
our integration progress.
Importantly,
we can now
fully focus on deploying
capital towards
accretive growth opportunities while following through on our capital
return objectives.
After repurchasing 3 billion
dollars of shares in 2025,
we intend to buy back
another 3 billion in
2026, with an aim
to do more. The
amount will be subject to
our financial performance, maintaining a CET1 capital
ratio of around
14%, and further
clarity on the
future regulatory
regime in
Switzerland. We expect
to hear more
on this later
in
the first half.
Beyond
2026,
we
do
not
expect
any
change
to
our
capital
return
policy.
We
intend
to
continue
to
pursue
a
progressive dividend. This will be complemented by a share buyback program that will be calibrated based on our
financial results and the final outcome and
timing of implementation of the
new regulatory regime in Switzerland.
Slide 28 – Ambition to restore and surpass pre-acquisition levels of profitability
Once our restructuring
work is
behind us, we
will be able
to harvest the
full benefits of
the acquisition and
produce
sustainably higher returns.
Our
progress
over
the
last
two
years
and
our
expected
profitability
in
2026
will
allow
us
to
build
towards
our
ambition to restore and surpass pre-acquisition levels of profitability.
For 2028, we
aim to deliver
a reported return
on CET1
capital of around
18% under
the current capital
framework,
and a reported cost/income ratio of around 67%.
A lot of hard work still lies ahead of us. But I am more confident than ever in our ability to create significant value
for all our clients, our people, our shareholders, and
in the communities where we live and work.
With that, I hand back to Todd for more details on the plan.
15
Todd
Tuckner
Slide 30 – Clear path to deliver on our 2026 exit
rate targets
Thank you, Sergio.
Bringing together the
achievements and ambitions
highlighted so far, slide 30 sets
out the path
as we
work towards
our 2026
exit-rate targets
of an
underlying return
on CET1
capital of
around 15%
and an
underlying cost/income ratio below 70%.
Underpinning
this
plan
is
our
expectation
that,
on
an
overall
basis,
our
core
franchises
will
be
the
primary
contributor to year-on-year pre-tax growth
and return accretion. Building on
the enhanced scale, capabilities and
competitive
positioning
we’ve
already
achieved,
we
expect
broad-based
revenue
momentum
in
Global
Wealth
Management, the Investment Bank and Asset Management
to more than offset net interest income headwinds in
Personal & Corporate Banking.
Critical to our return accretion,
the imminent completion of client account migration
in our Swiss booking center
is
set
to
unlock
more
meaningful
cost
reductions
as
we
retire
legacy
infrastructure
and
create
additional
staff
capacity, particularly benefitting our Global Wealth and Swiss franchises.
In Non-core
and Legacy,
we expect the
continued run-down of
costs during 2026
to further reduce
the drag on
returns. By year-end, the cost run-rate is expected to be better-sized to the limited
residual portfolio, underscoring
the further progress we intend in taking down this legacy
cost base.
On capital, having already
lifted revenues over RWAs to our
10% ambition – and
with capital efficiency embedded
in how we allocate resources across the Group – we’re well positioned to selectively deploy incremental resources
to
capture
attractive
growth
opportunities
while
maintaining
our
RWA
productivity.
Accordingly,
we
expect
disciplined capital deployment to underpin overall
return accretion.
Our 2025 effective tax rate was well below our structural level, reflecting material net litigation reserve releases in
Non-core and
Legacy, and tax
planning linked
to the
optimization
of our
legal entity
structure. Assuming
no material
reserve movements going forward, and with a less meaningful drag from NCL, we expect our effective tax rate to
normalize in 2026 to around 23% for the full year.
Taken
together,
these factors are
expected to translate to
an underlying return on
CET1 capital of
approximately
13% and a cost/income ratio of around 73% for
the full year 2026.
As we’ve highlighted in the
past, all of
2026 is required
to deliver the remaining
integration milestones, with net
saves expected to build progressively,
and a greater proportion weighted to the second half. This is why we focus
on
exit-rate
targets.
By
the
end
of
this
year,
with
integration
execution
substantially
complete,
the
remaining
synergies largely captured, and
the run-rate benefit
of the net
savings embedded in
our cost base,
we expect an
annualized view of our normalized
run rate of underlying opex
to provide an appropriate basis for
the cost/income
ratio that we aim to deliver from that point forward.
16
Slide 31 – Identified additional ~0.5bn cost
saves, total ~13.5bn by year-end 2026
Turning
to costs on Slide
- As of year-end,
we‘ve delivered 10.7 billion
of cumulative gross run-rate
cost saves,
including 3.2 billion in 2025.
Compared
to
our
2022
baseline,
this
has
reduced
our
cost
base
by
around
25%,
excluding
currency
effects,
litigation, and variable compensation linked
to production – and by around 12% on an overall basis.
Building on this
progress and through the
execution of our
integration roadmap, we
identified during our
planning
process around 500 million of incremental gross cost
saves to be delivered by the
end of 2026, taking the
planned
total to approximately 13 and a half billion. These incremental savings are enabled by our simplification agenda in
addition to the decommissioning work underway,
and help shape our post-integration operating model, creating
capacity to invest in
technology and talent for
future growth, while supporting the
delivery of our exit-rate
targets.
Of the
residual 2.8
billion of
gross cost
reduction targeted
for this
year,
around 40%
is expected
to come
from
technology infrastructure and run-costs, 40% from workforce capacity, and the remainder from third-party spend
and real
estate. The biggest
driver is retiring
the Credit Suisse
platform in Switzerland, which
in turn enables
the
phase-out of
associated middle-
and back-office
systems. With
client migrations
in the
Swiss booking
center running
through the
end of
the first
quarter,
the most
complex decommissioning work
ramps up
from mid-year,
driving
more meaningful net savings realization from that point onward.
Turning to cost-to-achieve. The 13
billion of integration-related
expenses incurred to
date reflects both the
scale of
execution
delivered
so
far,
and
the
additional
efficiency
opportunities
unlocked
as
we
progressed,
supporting
incremental
savings
and
faster benefit
capture.
For
2026,
we
expect around
2
billion
of
additional integration-
related
expenses to
deliver on
our cost
saving ambition.
This amount
reflects continued
execution intensity
and
targeted investment
to deliver
incremental savings
alongside the
remaining integration
synergies. Notably, the
cost-
to-achieve multiple remains
unchanged at 1.1
times, underscoring continued discipline
and cost control
through
this
highly
complex integration.
As
a
result,
we now
expect final
cumulative integration-related
expenses to
be
around 15 billion at historical FX by the end of 2026.
Slide 32 – NCL wind-down expected to be
substantially complete by year-end 2026
A further
important driver
of the
cost synergies
underpinning our
plan to
deliver our
exit-rate cost/income
ratio
target is the continued cost reduction in Non-core and Legacy, as shown on slide 32.
Since its formation following the
acquisition, NCL has reduced
its RWAs by
two-thirds, freeing up
nearly 8 billion
of capital, and has cut operating costs by roughly 80%. We’ve
also exited the costliest debt inherited from Credit
Suisse and resolved several
of the most complex legacy litigation matters.
With the
vast majority
of the
balance sheet
run-down now
behind us,
the team
is
squarely
focused on
driving
further cost efficiencies.
As a result,
we expect to exit 2026
with annualized operating expenses excluding litigation of approximately 500
million – around 40%
of 2025 levels –
and annualized net funding
costs of less than
200 million, reflecting
savings
from November’s liability
management exercise. We then
see the resulting pre-tax
loss run-rate to
halving again by
2028 and tapering to immaterial levels thereafter.
17
We also expect NCL to exit 2026 with around 28 billion of RWAs,
consisting of 4 billion of market and credit risk,
and 24
billion of
operational risk.
On op
risk, we
recently updated
our run-off
projections as
part of
our annual
review.
Legacy
provisions
and
settlements
reflecting
last
year’s
significant
progress
in
resolving
inherited
legal
matters broadly
offset other
roll-offs,
so our
year-end
2025 balance
– and
our expected
2026 balance
– remain
broadly unchanged at around 24 billion.
Looking forward,
and reflecting
our regulator’s
instructions, we
continue to
include certain
discontinued businesses
in the 10-year loss history and do not assume any accelerated releases. Under these assumptions, roughly 10% of
the current balance rolls off through 2030, with the remainder substantially running
off between 2031 and 2035.
Slide 33 – Balance sheet optimization complete,
deploying capital to drive growth
Staying with risk-weighted
assets and capital efficiency
on slide 33. As the
slide illustrates, we’ve made
meaningful
progress in lifting our revenues over RWAs
back to our ambition level of around 10% from less than 8% just two
years ago. This principally reflects three drivers.
First, strong progress
in running down NCL,
reducing RWAs
and freeing-up capacity.
Second, disciplined balance
sheet optimization across
our core businesses
since the acquisition,
ensuring we earn appropriate
returns for the
risk deployed. And third, stronger underlying performance, particularly in 2025, where we
monetized the value of
our
enhanced
scale,
capabilities
and
competitive
positioning
to
translate
constructive
markets
into
meaningful
revenue growth and share
gains, with a greater
proportion of the uplift coming
from the more
capital-light parts
of the franchise.
On that
stronger footing,
and with
capital efficiency
embedded in
how we
allocate resources
across the
Group,
we’re well positioned to selectively deploy incremental balance sheet to support profitable revenue growth across
our core businesses. Specifically,
as our focus shifts from restoring
capital discipline to enabling the next phase of
growth, we are no longer guiding to an RWA target.
Rather,
we expect
our risk-weighted
assets trajectory
to be
a
function of
our
growth ambitions
and disciplined
execution, as
we drive
higher returns
while maintaining
a strong
capital position
and retaining
the RWA
productivity
we’ve restored since the acquisition.
I should note that we are driving this capital efficiency and productivity
while absorbing RWA headwinds from the
final Basel III implementation
in Switzerland, which
has had a cumulative
net impact of adding
around 60 billion of
RWAs since we started preparing for its adoption over the last several
years.
In addition, we are preparing for the phase-in of the
Basel III output floor, and we continue to work to mitigate its
impact through
actions such
as improving
data quality
and pursuing
external ratings
for relevant
counterparties
and
business
areas.
Based
on
our
current
estimates,
the
effect
should
remain
modest
–
no
impact
in
2026,
potentially up
to 1%
in 2027,
and around
2% in
2028, when
the output
floor reaches
its fully-phased
level of
72.5% of standardized RWAs.
Adding to
this, the
current Swiss
application of
an internal loss
multiplier is
driving materially higher
operational
risk RWAs than
we would expect under the
corresponding implementations in the UK,
the EU and the
US where
authorities are
expected to
set the
ILM at
- In
that case,
op
risk RWAs
would be
driven by
the revenue-based
business indicator alone, which for us would mean
40-billion lower risk-weighted assets.
18
Slide 34 – Maintaining our strong capital position while
reducing funding costs
Turning to capital on slide 34. As of year-end,
our Group total loss-absorbing capacity stood at 187 billion, with a
going concern capital ratio of 18.5%.
As already highlighted, our
Group CET1 capital ratio
was 14.4% and reflected
a 3-billion reserve for
planned share
repurchases in 2026. Looking ahead,
we continue to target
a CET1 capital ratio
of around 14%, giving us
a robust
buffer above regulatory minimums and
the capacity to both self-fund
growth and deliver attractive capital
returns.
This said, as
Sergio mentioned,
it’s our intention
to continue to
buy back shares
beyond 2026. While
it’s premature
to comment on the absolute level of
future repurchases, we may begin accruing later
this year for a portion of the
2027 share buyback. The timing and pace of any accrual will depend on our
financial performance, developments
in the Swiss
capital framework and our
ability to operate
at our CET1
capital ratio target of
around 14%. As
we
await the final capital
ordinance expected later this
half, our CET1 capital
ratio may therefore temporarily
sit above
our target level.
Onto AT1s. With approximately 13
billion of issuance since the acquisition, our AT1s reached 4% of RWAs at year
end, against a
current regulatory allowance of
4.4%. For 2026,
having already placed
3 billion of
our targeted 3
and
half
billion of
AT1
issuance in
January,
we are
well
advanced
on
our
AT1
funding
plan for
the year.
We’ll
continue to stay close to the market and,
where it makes sense, bring our issuances forward.
In terms of gone concern
capital, we closed the year
with 96 billion of TLAC-eligible
debt. Looking ahead to 2026,
as we continue
to optimize our
gone concern capital
stack, we target
approximately 11 billion
of HoldCo issuances
against around 20 billion of expected maturities, redemptions,
and first calls.
Since the start of the integration, disciplined execution
of our funding strategy has generated around 1.2
billion in
net funding cost savings, exceeding
our original 2026 target of 1
billion. Just as importantly,
we’ve strengthened
the quality and composition of our liability profile, reinforcing our balance sheet for all seasons and positioning us
well to fund growth through the cycle.
Slide 35 – Our Group financial targets and ambitions
To
conclude on page 35. The strategic, financial and operational improvements we delivered during the past year
reinforce our confidence in achieving our 2026 exit-rate targets and give us a clear line of sight into the drivers of
performance that support our financial ambitions
beyond the conclusion of the integration.
With that, let’s open up for
questions.
19
Analyst Q&A (CEO
and CFO)
Chris Hallam, Goldman Sachs
Yes. Good morning everybody. So,
Todd, you talked at the start of the call about the USD 9 billion of capital
you've been able to upstream from the subsidiaries and
that USD 26 billion drop in RWAs at the parent bank.
And then I guess there's more that you plan to do. So if we
were to re-run the math that got us to the 24 billion
foreign sub capital shortfall earlier in the year, is it fair to say that number today would be
lower? And can you
give us a sense, sort of, by how much lower
and how much repatriation and rebalancing you can still do
to work
that number lower from here?
And then second question, which is more broadly, I guess, on the Group, you've got the 13% RoCET1 guide
for
this year. Jan 1st there was a strong narrative across the street on the potential for better capital markets activity
levels this year, effectively a bit of a Goldilocks operating environment. Now the backdrop appears more volatile.
So if we spend much of 2026 with this current market
backdrop – elevated volatility, dollar weakness, more
questions around public and private market valuation
levels – how would that impact your Group across your
various businesses? How resilient would the 13%
target be in that context?
And I guess, anything you'd want to think about
in terms of the Banking target ’26 versus ’22?
And just on that
target, is that now run-rate? Because I think
it used to be double ’22 in ’26, and now
it's on an annualized basis.
So just checking if that's shifted to an exit
run rate guide as well. Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
Hey Chris. Thanks for the questions. So
on the first one, yes, it's fair to say that if
you re-run the numbers, that
the uptick from 1Q25 or indeed 2Q25 would be lower
for this. But naturally, as we've said, we always had every
intention to upstream this capital. It's important to
reiterate that this capital that we've been repatriating from
the Credit Suisse subs was always part of our planning.
Our strong progress in de-risking the entities, as I
mentioned, has, in these cases, just simply
accelerated the return of the capital. We've always
assumed we would
get it, it's always formed part of our planning.
It's also been assumed to be up-streamed and informed,
what we
told you a year ago, in bringing our equity double
leverage ratio to pre-Credit Suisse acquisition levels to
around
100%. So that hasn't changed. What has changed,
obviously, is the pace at which the cash has come up to the
parent bank, one. And two, the fact that, as we've
mentioned, FX-driven headwinds on the Tier1
leverage ratios
of several Group entities, including UBS AG consolidated,
forces us to pace intercompany dividends, including at
the UBS AG level, and as a result, limits how much
capital in the very near term we can upstream to
Group. But
certainly mathematically, your inference is correct.
In terms of the current environment, I mean, we certainly
recognize in our outlook statement, talking about
2026, that we entered the quarter with constructive
markets continuing. Still seeing higher dispersion
and lower
correlation in markets that informed constructive two-way
trading in our IB, and still our Wealth clients remaining
risk-on despite the need to continue to diversify
across asset classes and geography.
Of course, as we've said, event-driven volatility from various
things – whether it be geopolitics or
some of what
we've been seeing recently – naturally suggest that
things can turn quickly. So, we're focused just on what we
can control, and the ambitions and targets we've laid
out reflect that. On the Banking target, I think it's
fair to
say that we remain confident in our ability to continue
to scale up, what you and I have discussed
many times, in
terms of doubling the 2022 revenues in ’26. Sergio
made the comment in his prepared remarks, it's fair to say
that the front half of 2025 for Banking in particular, where we're indexed in some of the markets
and with ECM
only picking up later in 2025, effectively delayed us
a bit, and as a result, Sergio and I are talking about getting
there in 2026 on an annualized basis.
20
Chris Hallam, Goldman Sachs
Okay. Thanks very much.
Kian Abouhossein, JP Morgan
Yes. Thanks for taking my questions. The first one is just coming back to the US
wealth management and maybe
just bottom up a little bit around the restructuring on
the advisor side. When should we expect the
attrition to
end? And how should we think about net flows
as we progress through 2026? And in that context, clearly your
pre-tax margin, you give some indication of what will
drive that. I recall Peter Wuffli talking about ultra-high net
worth and family office growth in the US. And I'm just
trying to understand what is the difficulty in the US to
enter that market, because it seems to
be extremely difficult to gain market share, especially multifamily – family
office, sorry.
And lastly, Sergio, you discussed a little bit tokenized assets, and you guys are quite advanced
in this field based
on what we researched. And I'm just trying to understand
what the long-term strategy is, because on
the one
hand, you could argue [in] wealth management,
one advantage is you get access to all these
products being a
wealth management client and two, tokenization,
you kind of commoditize that. So I'm just
trying to understand
how you think about the impact of tokenization,
in particular of assets, on your wealth business
long-term.
Todd
Tuckner
Hey, Kian, let me address the first question on US wealth. So first, I would say, we're very pleased with our
positioning as we continue to work through the levers
that we've discussed. We're particularly happy with our
positioning at the high end of the market, I think
that's where we have a stronghold. What we're trying to do
is
leverage that, and also work on greater penetration
in all aspects of high net worth. But
we're happy with our
position, especially at the top end. We're certainly not
satisfied with the net movement we've seen around
our
advisors. But as Sergio said, it's a transition-related issue.
And it's part of the changes that we introduced a year
ago that we considered necessary to improve pre-tax margin and
inform sustainable, profitable growth.
Now, in terms of how we see this playing out, asset inflows
or outflows from advisor hires or exits, as I've said in
the past, do occur several months after announcements.
So we can model the impacts on NNA based on
announced net recruiting data. And on that basis,
we do expect further NNA headwinds through
the first half of
2026, after which we expect net recruiting outflow
impacts to materially taper, and, as Sergio said, for the US
business to be a positive contributor to
GWM net flows in 2026 overall. And what
gives us confidence around
this is our building recruiting pipeline, as well as
the feedback we're getting across the field where advisors are
telling us that the changes that we've
introduced reinforce the strength of our platform and make UBS the best
place for FAs to serve their clients and grow their businesses.
21
Sergio P.
Ermotti
So, Kian, on tokenized assets, I think it’s
fair to say that, yes, we are really pursuing a strategy
of being a fast
follower in that area, so in respect of really looking for solutions for
personal clients or wealthy clients or
corporates. But when you look down at how
we're going to do it, first of all I think, like AI,
this of course may
have some cannibalization effect on the services
you do. But I would not underestimate the impact
on the cost-
to-serve on this technology. So while we see maybe pressure on the top line, the advantages coming
from the
rationalization of the processes, the back office, the operations
will be substantial. So I'm not so concerned
about
that kind of threat.
By the way, also recognizing that as a highly regulated bank, we cannot be a frontrunner in terms of
implementing and deploying this kind of
technology, but we need to take a very prudent approach. So I see
tokenization as a journey, like for Al, that will play out over the next 3 to 5
years, and which will be
complementary to our more traditional, existing businesses.
And by the way, where knowledge is going to be
important, technology is important. And
last but not least, when we talk about
wealth management and wealthy
clients and wealth planning in general, the
emotional part of the equation – having
the client proximity, the
human touch – will continue to be a critical factor
to differentiate yourselves.
Kian Abouhossein, JP Morgan
Thank you.
Antonio Reale, Bank of America
Hi. Morning. It's Antonio from Bank of America.
I have two questions, please. The first
one on net new assets. I
mean, can you help us better understand
the path to your ambition of reaching more than 200 billion
net new
assets by 2028? And maybe give us some more color
around sort of the key regions. It would be great if you
could talk specifically about the trends or remind us of the
initiatives you are taking to capture some of the
tailwinds, I'm thinking in Asia Pacific, on both
wealth creation and capital market activity. I mean, we've seen the
pipeline of IPO in China and Hong Kong looking
very, very strong. So that would be my first question.
My second one is on costs. You've talked about the delivery of cost synergies, and
the efforts are clearly visible
with almost the entire organization working on that
delivery. Can you talk us through a little bit more on sort of
your expectations for net cost savings from here on? I mean,
I've heard your remarks and seen your targets, but if
you give us a sense of how much of these savings
are reinvested in the business, IT, Al capabilities, or FA
retention, and how much can be the sort of net
cost savings coming through. Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
Hey, Antonio. So let's step back on the first question and maybe provide some context
to help unpack it. So on
the path to 200 billion, it's important to
remember that we guided to 100 billion in 2024 and
2025 because we
flagged that there are a number of headwinds that we have to
work through around this unprecedented
integration. And that's going to create some offset to
NNA or some of the strategic actions we're taking
to drive
pre-tax margins, and return on equity was going to
come at the expense of flows. And indeed
that's played out
over the course of ’24 and ’25.
22
So what gives us confidence in terms of
the build is the fact that we've worked through many
of these
headwinds we just talked about, in response to Kian's
question on flows in the US that remain a headwind
into
- But outside the US, a lot of the things
that I spend time over the last several quarters
discussing in terms of
headwinds that we have to navigate through, we have
done. So that gives us, effectively, confidence to believe
that just working through those headwinds themselves
is a boon to NNA growth. In terms of specific things
that
we want to do, we want to continue to capture
wallet across the board with our best-in-breed CIO solution shelf,
and leverage our unrivaled global connectivity
at a time when wealth is increasingly mobile,
as Sergio described in
his comments earlier.
We continue to see signs of the IPO recovery, which is supportive of net new assets. We're also regaining the
front foot on strategic recruiting, and we could see that
coming through, and that's part of, for sure, what we're
doing in APAC and driving growth there. And in addition, we are very focused on net new client
acquisition in
the context of wealth transfer as well. So
these are things that we're doing outside the US; also,
of course,
building out our more digitized offering into high net worth
will help. So I think it gives you a sense of where
we
expect to grow. It's going to be across our franchise. Naturally, as we said, the US is expected to be a net positive
contributor in ’26, but we know in ’27 and
’28 the US has to contribute more in order to grow to the
greater
than 200 billion. And so that's part of
the plan as well.
On costs, I think it's fair to say that – you asked
just to get a little bit more insight on the saves.
So first, in terms
of the path to the 13.5 billion, we have 2.8 billion
of gross cost savings to deliver through 2026. As I mentioned
in my comments, it's about 40% on the tech
side, about 40% personnel-related and 20%
third party spend and
real estate. Once the gross cost savings are achieved, we expect
that gross-to-net ratio to fall in line with where
we have been guiding in prior quarters. If
I look at my gross-to-net, in terms of what I plan for
the end of 2026
on the 13.5 billion, I intend to deliver net saves
of around 75% of that amount, excluding variable
and FA comp.
Any headwind from that effectively is excluded, but it's
a 75% gross-to-net cost capture in how we think about
getting to our end of 2026 targets.
23
Antonio Reale, Bank of America
Thank you.
Giulia Aurora Miotto, Morgan Stanley
Hi. Good morning. Thank you for
taking my questions. The first one, Todd, I want to check if I understood you
correctly. I think you said that half of the 9 billion accrued between parent and Group could be distributed
in the
second half of the year, subject to the Too
Big To
Fail proposal. I just want to understand what outcome
could
drive essentially a forbidden additional buyback
in the year, if I understood this correctly.
And then secondly, on the parent bank, I think you said you intend now to run around 14% CET1 there, because
of FX headwinds. And do you disclose anywhere any
sensitivity in terms of what we can expect
the FX impact to
be on this ratio going forward, in case the CHF appreciates further?
And I know you disclosed the sensitivities
at
Group level, the 14 basis points impact for 10%
depreciation of the dollar. But I was just interested in looking at
the parent more closely. Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
Yeah. So on the 9 billion accrual at the parent bank with respect to its dividend to pay up to
Group, we said that,
like last year, we were going to split it in two. So we're imminently paying up a half of that, or 4.5
billion, to the
holding company. The other 4.5 billion, we were just taking a prudent wait-and-see, to see what
happens in
terms of the Swiss regulatory capital framework developments,
like we had last year, just retaining that
optionality to either retain or to pay up. And so that's
the way we've done the split again, in respect of the
2025
dividend accrual of the parent bank up to the holding
company.
In terms of the – you mentioned the CET1, you're
looking for the FX sensi. So first, I would
just tell you that in
general, maybe to step back a bit, that the dollar
softness that we've seen also in the
first part of this year, given
the currency mix of our businesses and balance sheet,
is moderately supportive of pre-tax profit accretion. So
that's across the Group, while offering a moderate headwind on
our capital ratios. So just the sensi across
Group
is: a further 10% drop in the dollar versus other
currencies would drive a 3% PBT accretion, while placing
low
double-digit basis points headwind on our capital
and leverage ratios. At the AG consolidated
level, the sensitivity
is by and large very similar to the to the
Group. So while we don't disclose it, you can
take away that the FX sensi
at the AG consolidated level behaves in a
very similar way.
Giulia Aurora Miotto, Morgan Stanley
Thank you.
24
Jeremy Sigee, BNP Paribas
Morning. Thank you. Just one question
on the capital, you mentioned [on] the
ordinance measures you expect
publication later in the first half, which
I think is what had been planned. Do you
have any clarification on when
the go-live date [is] for that aspect, and particularly
the phase in, which I know we've talked
about before. I just
wondered if there's any clarification on your expectations
for that on the ordinance measures, specifically what
the phasing would be?
And then my other question really was just to see if
you could talk a bit more about Asia wealth management
flows, which were a bit soft in the quarter. I just wondered if there was any giveback from the strong flows
you
had last quarter, and sort of how you see the outlook for wealth management flows
in Asia going forward.
Todd
Tuckner
Hey, Jeremy.
So let me take your two questions. So the
first, when the ordinance is published, the Federal
Council
will have to confirm then what the effective date is
and the phase in. So I think it's
reasonable, as we've said
before, to expect a phase in, and it's reasonable to expect a
prospective application date or effective date, just
given historical practice. But that will have
to be confirmed by the Swiss Federal Council
when they publish the
ordinance later in the first half.
In terms of Asia flows, look, we're very happy and
very comfortable with the position Asia
is in from a flow
standpoint in particular, of course, moreover,
around their ability to generate profitable growth. As I mentioned
in my comments, I believe the power of the integrated
franchise – which, this is their first full year since
the client
account migration at the end of 2024 – is clearly
contributing to growth and profitability overall. And
as I
mentioned in response to an earlier question from Antonio,
our focus is on growing assets across the region by
doing things like deepening share of wallet, accelerating
strategic partnerships, [and] as Sergio mentioned,
strengthening high net worth feeder channels, particularly
through digital and ramping up the impact hiring
of
client advisors. And I believe the evidence of
this is in the 2025 results for the region, as I mentioned,
the region's
first year post the platform consolidation,
if you look at net new asset and net new
fee generating asset growth –
both at 8% for the year in Asia with strong mandate
penetration gains. And of course, while they
continue to
drive their bellwether, which is transactional revenues, in an environment where clearly our advice and
structuring
expertise are differentiated capabilities.
Jeremy Sigee, BNP Paribas
Thank you.
25
Joseph Dickerson, Jefferies
Yes, hello. I just have a couple of quick questions. Is the right way to think about
the 26 billion reduction to fully
applied RWAs related to the upstreaming of capital to UBS AG. is to put,
call it a 12.5% CET1, so it brings down
the capital associated with those by about
3.25 billion? Is that the right way to think
about it? Just to be precise.
And could you discuss, in the US in terms
of the FAs, you're clearly investing in wealth advice centers. So if we
think about the net change in FAs, I guess, is there a way to think about the
marginal pre-tax associated once the
accounts are funded and transacting, etc.? Is there a
way to think about the marginal pre-tax margin on
wealth
advice centers versus, say, the back-book, if you will, of existing business? Many thanks.
Todd
Tuckner
Hey, Joe. So the 26 billion reduction in RWA is a function of the portion of the up-streamed capital that gives rise
to either offsets, because it's a repatriation – so it's an offset at
the parent level investment in subsidiary
accounting – or from impairments on dividends. So some
portion of the 9 billion were characterized locally
for
legal purposes as dividends and may have been
associated with offsetting impairments. So the
26 billion is the
impact. The way you calculate it is actually the
net reduction in the investment in subsidiary account,
which is, as I
said, the portion that's repatriated plus any dividends,
any investment valuation change on dividends
times
400%, because [for] foreign subs, the RWA impact is 400%. So that's
how you would get to the 26 billion. So
it's effectively 6.5 billion times four is another way
to calculate it.
In terms of – you mentioned the build-up in the
Wealth Advice Center. I think it is fair to say that our strategy is
sort of multifaceted in that respect. One, it's to provide
leverage to the more senior advisors in the field. So
it
helps them to also grow their books of business. Secondly, the advisors that we’re hiring in the Wealth Advice
Center are also there to build up their own books of business.
And I think it is fair to say that the
cost-to-carry in
the Wealth Advice Center, because it's a different compensation model, is lower than your traditional brokerage
model that the senior FAs would be subject to. So, sure, if we build up successfully
the Wealth Advice Center,
which is a lever in our strategy as one of the feeder
channels, I think it's fair to say that the pre-tax margin
from
that business contribution is higher.
Joseph Dickerson, Jefferies
Thanks.
Stefan Stalmann, Autonomous Research
Good morning. I would like to
first ask a question about your targets and
ambitions. How do you want us to
measure the exit targets for 2026? Is it a fourth
quarter number or are there pro forma calculations involved, or
how do you think about this? And also, is there any particular
reason why 2028 remains an ambition rather than
a target?
And the second question I wanted to ask is
on your FRC business and the Investment
Bank. Can you give us
maybe a rough split of how much of that is FX versus
how much was precious metals, please? Thank you.
26
Todd
Tuckner
Hey, Stefan. So the ’26 exit rate calculation. Well, the expectation will be that, certainly
on the numerator, we
would take the normalized run rate of where we
are at the end of the year, and annualize that. I think that's
reasonably straightforward in terms of how we would
think about the numerator. The denominator would do the
same. Naturally, of course, revenues are always a little bit more interesting in the fourth quarter if you have
seasonality. So I think we will look back rather than look forward and develop a denominator that
seems
reasonable. But we believe that fundamentally, this comes out in the wash as we go through 2027,
as I think you
would agree, in terms of when we convert this underlying
exit rate cost/income ratio, is that manifesting
through
a cost/income ratio when we report in 2027 below 70%.
And so that's really the key. But in terms of how we will
sort of settle the business at the end of
the year, that's my expectation at this point in time.
I think in terms of the ambition versus target,
I think the Group reported [return on] CET1 of 18% and
the
cost/income ratio of 67% are targets, are they not? Those
are targets, so, but there's no given my response, you
could see that I –
Sergio P.
Ermotti
At the end of the day, it's a target, and ambitions are almost the same. I would say
that the targets are more
short term, what we can see. The look-through is for
2026, we have a visibility to talk about targets
versus ’28,
and going forward is more of an ambition. But I wouldn't
be too bothered about overanalyzing that kind of
aspect. We want to get there. So, I mean, that's what
it is.
Stefan Stalmann, Autonomous Research
Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
And Stefan, in terms of the split in FRC on
FX and precious metals, will come back and give
you the specific
breakout.
Stefan Stalmann, Autonomous Research
Thank you very much.
27
Anke Reingen, RBC
Yeah. Good morning and thank you for taking my questions. The first is
just to clarify on the ’26 share buyback.
So you said 3 billion and potentially more, and then
you also talked about accrual for the
2027 share buyback. I
just wanted to confirm it's not the same thing.
So we could have an additional share buyback
in ’26 on top of the
3 billion, plus an accrual for 2027.
And then secondly, on the slide where you talk about the through-the-cycle revenues over RWA, is the 10%, is
that what informs your 18% return in 2028
as well? And then just, I'm a bit surprised
that it's, I mean, looking at
the 9.6% in 2025, 10% doesn't seem that much
of a step up. So, there should be more focus on the shaded
area, so it'd be like higher than 10%, or were you sort
of like over earning in ’25 in some areas? Thank
you very
much.
Todd
Tuckner
Yeah, hi Anke. So on the first question, the idea is, if we do come out with guidance
on what we intend to do in
terms of our aim to do more later in the year, we would at that point accrue for that.
And to the extent that we,
as I said in my comments, accrue for the 2027
share buyback or a portion thereof, that would be on
top.
In terms of our revenue over RWA, actually we're quite comfortable with that
as a hurdle, in terms of the
productivity of the RWA that we put to work. You also have to consider there are a lot of headwinds that I
described in my comments that we also have
to navigate around that. So I talked about a lot of
the Basel III
headwinds that we have. But certainly driving
higher revenues over RWA and creating RWA productivity for sure
contributes to the 18% return on CET1.
Sergio P.
Ermotti
Yeah, and overly focusing on above that level would basically come at a cost of
growth, I mean, in terms of net
new assets, loans, ability to be competitive
in pricing. So I think that having a revenue and risk weighted
assets at
10% is a quite competitive number. And if we overstretch that number, it's going to come at cost of growth.
And so I think that we have a material upside
and marginal benefits in balancing
out the efficiency with growth.
Anke Reingen, RBC
Okay. Thank you.
28
Andrew Coombs, Citi
Good morning. Can I ask one broad-based question
on net interest income. And then I'll follow up on
the
ordinance and legislation.
On net interest income, firstly on the Q1 guide for
GWM. You called out the small decline due to day count, but
also you said deposit rates? Perhaps you can
just elaborate on what you mean by
change in deposit rates there.
And then my broader question on full year ’26 net interest
income is, when you gave your guidance, you
talked
about the contribution from the LME exercise in November. But can you just talk about the NII
benefit across the
divisions from that LME exercise, and also the AT1 issuance you recently did in January? I know you
put that
through your net interest income, so what's the impact
to your GWM and P&C NII numbers from that as
well?
And then the other question, just on the
ordinance and legislation, obviously, I think we've all read the Finance
Minister's interview in FMW at the end of January. I mean, she was talking about
AT1 being unsuitable for the
purpose of the new capital reform because it would cost
the bank as much as equity capital, it would
unsettle
markets. And then if you could just share your thoughts
on AT1 versus core Tier1 capital. Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
So, Andy, hi. So on NII, I mean, normally, easing rates are supportive for net interest income in general. But to
unpack that a bit – outside the US, the benefit
from lower deposit rates is more limited because a meaningful
portion of our deposits, particularly in Swiss
francs, are at or near their effective floor, and we have a significant
part of our deposit base in Swiss francs. And as
a result, the asset yields or the replicating portfolios
reprice down
faster and that compresses margins. So that's what I
mean by the impact from deposit rates that weigh a
bit on
the sequential Q-on-Q as rates come lower, particularly in the lower rate currencies
like Swiss francs, but also
Euro to an extent as well. On the LME, the benefit
that we see is about 100 million per year net of
the PPA,
across each of the next three years, roughly. So we see that and it's split across Wealth, P&C and, with respect to
the Opco issuance we bought back as well,
Non-core and Legacy in terms of its funding cost
drag.
Sergio P.
Ermotti
Yeah. On the AT1
topic, I think that, first of all, it's clear
that the lessons learned on what happened
in 2023 tells
us that maybe some clarification around some aspect
on how the AT1 should be called into a restructuring are
necessary. Having said that, I would point out that without AT1, Credit Suisse would have gone through a
resolution on Monday morning. So, I mean,
if one wants to question the effectiveness of the AT1, we had a
concrete and not theoretical example on how it was critical
to restoring, very rapidly, financial stability in
Switzerland, also globally.
So from my point of view, that's a first observation. The second one, I would say
that the Basel Committee has
confirmed its total backing of the AT1 as a vital part of the capital stack.
So, frankly, I think that it's very
important to really understand the international
landscape and how these things are working, and
regulate
accordingly.
29
Flora Bocahut, Barclays
Yes. Thank you. Good morning. The first question, I'd like to come back on
the buyback, just to make sure I fully
understand the message there, because in the past
you used to do two tranches on the buybacks,
one in H1 and
one in H2. So can you clarify, and apologies if you already have, on the buyback for 2026, when
you say 3 billion
and potentially more, when are you going to launch that
buyback? And is the plan as of now, that the whole of
the 3 billion would be achieved over H1? So
just to understand here the timing of the buyback.
The second question is about the P&C banking
cost/income ratio. You said in your presentation that you continue
to target that exit rate ‘26 of below 50%, and
then a reported 48% for ‘28. You said you think you can achieve
that even if rates are zero at the SNB. But obviously in ‘25 you're still
much higher than that. So can you maybe
elaborate again on what gives you the confidence
that you can decline the cost/income ratio
by so much, over
ten points basically in ‘26. And how much of
that would be driven specifically by the
decommissioning of the IT
system at Credit Suisse? Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
Flora, so on the first question, in terms of
our approach, when we hear further on the ordinance
later in the first
half of the year, we would come out in a subsequent quarter and potentially offer
a view on our willingness to do
more, and if so, how much. So that is contingent,
of course, on what those final rules say, and just, if there's
even further visibility on the broader regulatory framework
in Switzerland. So we would come out and
talk about
that. In terms of the 3 billion that we're committing
to do, we think it's fair that around 2 billion will be
undertaken in the first half of 2026, to think
about just timing in respect of that.
On the P&C cost/income ratio, as Sergio
mentioned, it's unlikely we would meet the
less than 50% cost/income
ratio on an underlying basis in 2026, given
the NII headwinds. And as you rightly
say, we said that the 48% can
be achieved by ‘28, even in the current interest rate environment.
So what gives us confidence on that? So
I
would say it's two things, broadly. One, it's P&C building out their non-NII revenues, continuing
to grow non-NII
revenues, whether it be across Personal Banking, but also
in their Corporate and Institutional segment.
So very
focused, especially after the platform migration
is complete at the end of Q1 that, without
distraction, the
business is out and improving, and driving growth in those areas on the
top line. And then, of course, on the
expense side, of course, we have – it's important
to recognize that we're taking a lot of cost out of the businesses
that are in their operating margins at the moment.
We take those costs out. P&C will be a big beneficiary
of the
of the gross cost saves that we take out in 2026,
so that's going to help. And then just further
efficiency, as we
do some of the things that Sergio highlighted
in his prepared remarks in terms of creating more operating
efficiency through continuing investments in our operating model
and in technology. So those are the things that
give us confidence to get to around 48% by ‘28, irrespective
of the rates environment.
Flora Bocahut, Barclays
Okay. Thank you.
30
Amit Goel, Mediobanca
Hi. Thank you. One question just coming back
on the US wealth business. Just in terms
of squaring the circle – so
I think obviously you're talking about a positive kind
of full year flow performance with the
first half potentially
still being a bit negative so, ramping up in the
second half. When I think about that, then
it probably does require
a bit of more commitment, expense. And so, to
get the better operating margins that I think
you're guiding to
now for next year and the year after – especially
with lower rates – I'm just wondering, what
are you baking in
for the impact from getting the National Charter, and how quickly and how significantly
can that impact or
should we expect, or is that baked into your expectations?
And then secondly, just coming back on the capital upstreaming – the 9 billion. I suppose I was
a bit surprised
that you've been able to accelerate it, or to
do it a bit quicker. I was just curious because then, for example, in
terms of the 26 billion number that has been
presented as incremental capital demands, that drops to about
21.5
or just above. So I'm just curious why you
do this now, versus waiting till we have got a bit further down
the
parliamentary discussion process, because it could
give the impression that some of these demands
are a bit more
manageable. So [I] just wanted to touch on
that if possible. Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
Hi Amit. So, on your first question, look, in
terms of our ‘28 ambitions that Sergio described
in his prepared
remarks on the US pre-tax margin, naturally, the costs are baked in. If you're talking about – I guess I think in
your first point, you were trying to say more commitment to
sort of reverse the net recruiting impacts, as well as,
you talked about the National Charter. So the cost of doing that are, of course, in our
plans, in terms of ramping
up recruiting, but also seeing that some of the movements
also start to taper as we move through 2026, that
is
our expectation. In terms of the timing on
the National Charter, I think we already are leveraging the build out of
the banking capabilities, and we're doing quite
well with it. We're growing NII, we're growing loan balances and
[on] the National Charter, we're going to be able to just leverage the progress that we're making – that will take
time. Once we get the National Charter and
we're able to roll out the additional capabilities to clients,
it will take
time before there's meaningful growth and that contributes to
meaningful pre-tax margin accretion.
You asked about the upstreaming and the timing. I think for us, we're focused on de-risking Non-core and
Legacy as fast as possible. That's been our
stated objective all along, to reduce the balance
sheet and take out
costs and to do it in a capital effective way. We've said that from the very beginning. We've made very strong
progress in doing that. And as a result, we've been able to satisfy supervisory
reviews around the capital that sits
in a number of these entities across the globe, including
in the UK and the US. We've secured approvals to
upstream the capital, and we've done that.
31
Benjamin Goy, Deutsche Bank
Hi. One last question on [the] Investment Bank.
You have shown strong revenue growth without any RWA
increase. Just wondering whether there's more opportunities
left, or do you expect revenue growth and RWA
growth to pick up. And are you willing to even allow for
disproportionate RWA growth if the opportunities are
there? Thank you.
Todd
Tuckner
Benjamin. Just on the RWA – look, I think it's important
to point out 2025 just was a particularly strong year
for
the Investment Bank in terms of their ability to
generate revenues in a capital-light fashion.
They will always do
that because that's the nature of their business, but it
was potentially accentuated in 2025 by two
things.
One, I just think the market conditions were such that,
given our positioning, vis-à-vis the market, that
we were
able to generate significant trading flows
without significantly taking up market RWA. So that's one
thing. And
the second thing, it's also important, I mentioned
that we as a bank are wearing the burden of significant RWA
inflation from having implemented Basel III, but
also over a number of years in preparing for it.
It is fair to say that
on trade date – which is the implementation
date of Basel III final for us, at the beginning
of 2025 – there were
reductions. So even though, as I said, we're wearing about 60 billion
of additional RWA, on settlement date, I
should say, of Basel III, we ultimately saw reductions. And so the IB benefited from that as well in 2025,
in terms
of its RWA consumption. So a number of factors, I think, that played
in making ‘25 quite unusual. But look,
we
always believe that the IB will be able to
be successful in a capital-light fashion.
Benjamin Goy, Deutsche Bank
Thank you.
Sarah Mackey
I think there are no further questions. We just thank everyone for
dialing in and we look forward to speaking
to
you again with our first quarter results. Thank you.
32
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SIGNATURES
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By:
/s/ David Kelly
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UBS AG
By:
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Date:
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